


Racetrack Higgins and the Half-Wit TERF

by WaitingForMy



Series: A Bored Author Begs for One-Shot Requests [8]
Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bookstore, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, J.K. Rowling is a transphobe, M/M, Race spills the proverbial tea...all over Spot, Rated T for language, Spot Conlon says trans rights, request
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:33:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25090924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WaitingForMy/pseuds/WaitingForMy
Summary: Request: A modern Sprace Au where Race is at the bookstore with Davey (he may be a dumbass, but he’s well-read) and he’s talking/ranting to him about a book for a long time before realizing that ‘Crap, you’re not Davey, you’re... a very hot stranger’
Relationships: Spot Conlon/Racetrack Higgins
Series: A Bored Author Begs for One-Shot Requests [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1704226
Comments: 18
Kudos: 108





	Racetrack Higgins and the Half-Wit TERF

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Broadwayandtears](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Broadwayandtears/gifts).



> This is a lot shorter than I had hoped to make it, but I’m happy with the way it turned out!

“It’s just super disappointing, you know?” Race huffed, sliding the cloth-cover hardback back into its place, relishing the satisfying _schlunk_ sound it made as it slotted between the other books on the packed shelf. “Because her books were super important to me, growing up in the system and all.”

Davey nodded absently. “I hear you. I’m disappointed, too.” He turned over the book he was holding to read the back cover.

Race and Davey spent Monday afternoons at the little used bookstore a couple blocks away from Davey’s place. Books were about the only thing they had in common, and the store was about the only place Jack wouldn’t follow them—not that they didn’t love Jack, but it was nice to have something for just the two of them, too—so Race and Davey’s Bookstore Mondays had been a tradition since sophomore year of high school.

Race continued down the aisle. “And like, apparently she’s a science-denier too,” he took another book off the shelf and inspected it, “because biologists and psychologists agree that gender is a construct and trans people are, like, real and valid. It’s just stupid!” He put it back, rounded the corner, and started down the next aisle. God, didn’t this store have anything that wasn’t aggressively heterosexual, dystopian nonsense? “I mean, I was kind of annoyed by the retroactive gay representation, too. Talk about performative. Whatever, though. _This_ pisses me off. I mean, sure, the lived experience of trans women as a whole is probably different than the lived experience of cis women, but like...the lived experience of white women is different than the lived experience of black women.” He gestured absently to the boy next to him. “The lived experience of Jewish women is different than the lived experience of Christian women! It’s like, tell me, Jo; which is the one correct way to be a woman?” He scoffed, shaking his head in disgust. He agitatedly ripped another book off the shelf and turned it over and over in his hands without actually reading so much as the title. “And then she has the fucking _audacity_ to say if all this wacky trans stuff was around when she was young, she might have transitioned to escape womanhood, as if gender dysphoria and transitioning aren’t literal hell. What the fuck, fucking bullshit is that?” He slammed the book hard back onto the shelf. Thank god this was a bookstore and not a library, or he definitely would have been asked to leave by now. “And now, I have to find a new fantasy adventure series to project on, because Harry Potter was written by a half-wit TERF!” He turned to Davey, mouth open to start yelling some more, only to have all his air dissipate in his throat as he was met with the sight not of Davey, but of a very startled, very Handsome StrangerTM. His eyes widened to the size of small dinner plates, and he turned to look the other way down the aisle. Davey wasn’t there, either. Oh my god, had he lost Davey when he changed aisles? How long had been ranting to this Handsome StrangerTM?

Just when he was about to apologize profusely for his outburst, the Handsome StrangerTM spoke. “TERFS aren’t real.”

Race blinked like the useless gay he was. “What?”

“Trans Exclusive Radical Feminists,” the Handsome StrangerTM said. “It’s an oxymoron. Real feminists care about all women, not just cis women.”

Race was swooning.

“As for the series,” the Handsome StrangerTM knelt down to pull a book off a low shelf, then handed it to Race, “try this one. I’m a big fan, and the author’s not a transphobe, either. That I know of, anyway. And, uh…” He reached into the messenger bag hanging off one of his upsettingly muscular shoulders, pulled out a small pad of paper and a pen, and scribbled something down. He tore the paper off and handed it to Race, as well. “Here, so you can tell me what you think of it, maybe over coffee or something.” He smiled and started down the aisle.

“Thank you…” Race breathed as he brushed past. He turned to watch the stranger leave and just about jumped out of his skin when he came face to face with Davey.

“Wow,” Davey smirked, “that guy was smooth.”

Race made a dumb little noise of assent. He looked down at the book and note in his hands.

‘Spot C.’ and a phone number.

Race read the whole book in approximately six hours.


End file.
